Egypt Army Bombs Weapons Facility Allegedly Linked To Hamas

A funeral convoy carrying the bodies of four Islamist militants, drives through Sheikh Zuweid, in the north of the Sinai peninsula August 10, 2013. The four Islamist militants were killed by an air strike that their comrades said had been done by an Israeli drone but which state media said was the work of an Egyptian army helicopter. Photo: REUTERS/ Stringer

A funeral convoy carrying the bodies of four Islamist militants, drives through Sheikh Zuweid, in the north of the Sinai peninsula August 10, 2013.Photo: Reuters

The Egyptian government is moving forward in its campaign to eradicate the Ansar Bait al-Maqdis militant group and its alleged backers, the Muslim Brotherhood. The Egyptian army attacked a weapons storage facility belonging to the group in the Sinai Peninsula on Thursday; Ansar Bait al-Maqdis was intending to use the weapons for attacks on police and army officials, security sources told al-Arabiya news.

The militant group has killed hundreds of police and army officials in the last year, Egyptian government officials said.

Often said to be inspired by al-Qaeda, the militant group is largely considered the most dangerous in Egypt; the United States declared it a terrorist organization in April. On Saturday, 11 militants were killed in a military raid in the peninsula. Nearly 50 militants were killed in Sinai the week before when a police checkpoint was attacked.

Saturday’s raid also saw the destruction of three tunnels leading from Gaza to Sinai. There is speculation around the connection between Ansar Bait al-Maqdis and Hamas, as both groups share at least one ideological and political partner: the Muslim Brotherhood.

The two groups also share a common enemy: Israel. In February, the Egypt-based militants claimed they had fired rockets at Israel’s resort town Eliat, not far from the Iron Dome, Israel’s missile defense system.

Ansar Bait al-Maqdis was born during the 2011 Egyptian revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak. The militants have been in almost constant conflict with the Egyptian government since the ouster of Muslim Brotherhood-backed Mohammad Morsi in 2013. Egypt declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization in December.